The Chicago Blackhawks are going to have to get their passports ready for an early season trip to kick off the 2019-20 campaign.

That’s because the team will open the regular season against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Czech Republic capital of Prague on Oct. 4, the Blackhawks said in a statement.

The season opener will take place at 2 p.m. CST at the O2 Arena in Prague, the team said. They will also conclude the 2019 preseason in Europe days before, with a game in Berlin, Germany, against Eisbaren Berlinat 1:30 p.m. CST on Sept. 29.

Tickets to both games, which are part of the 2019 National Hockey League Global Series, will go on sale to the public on March 27.

“Participating in marquee National Hockey League events like the NHL Global Series is always something the Blackhawks organization does with great honor,” said Blackhawks President and CEO John McDonough said in a statement.

“Similar to the last time we played in Europe in 2009, there is a lot of excitement surrounding the Blackhawks and this is a great opportunity to share that passion with our fans across Europe,” he added.

The Blackhawks last opened their season in Europe in 2009, when they played the Florida Panthers in Helsinki, Finland. The Blackhawks split the two games with the Panthers, as they lost their first game and won their second, a 4-0 victory with Antti Niemi in net.

Blackhawks fans will also remember that the team went on to win the Stanley Cup that season, so could there be another bit of Cup magic in the Blackhawks as they make their season debut on another continent?

The upcoming trip will also be a sort of homecoming for two current Blackhawks players, as forwards Dominik Kahun and David Kampf were both born in the Czech Republic, the team said.

SPRINGFIELD – A state Senate committee voted unanimously Wednesday to advance a bill that would prevent state banking regulators for punishing banks or credit unions that do business with the state’s medical marijuana industry.

Even if that bill becomes law, however, those financial institutions would still be at risk of being prosecuted under federal laws.

“I would say this is kind of the gray area we’re in right now,” Jerry Peck, of the Community Bankers Association of Illinois, told the Senate Financial Institutions Committee. “This is still illegal federally.”

State Sen. Toi Hutchinson

Senate Bill 2023 is being pushed by Sen. Toi Hutchinson, a Chicago Democrat, and State Treasurer Michael Frerichs. It would prohibit state banking regulators from taking action against any bank or credit union in Illinois that provides accounts for businesses engaged in the legal production and sale of marijuana products.

According to a November 2017 listing by Governing magazine, marijuana was legal in some form in at least 31 states plus the District of Columbia. In 2015, Illinois legalized marijuana for treatment of certain medical conditions under a pilot program that is set to expire this year, and state lawmakers are expected to vote later this session on whether to make that pilot program permanent, and whether to legalize marijuana for adult recreational use.

But in Illinois and many other states, banks will not do business with companies involved in growing or selling marijuana because federal banking regulations prohibit it.

During most of the Obama administration, the U.S. Justice Department would not prosecute those banks or businesses, as long as they were not involved in other criminal activity. But that changed early in the Trump administration when former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo to federal prosecutors advising them to resume full enforcement of federal laws.

“There haven’t been wholesale raids of banks doing business with legal entities in their states, but these people are conservative by nature,” Frerichs told the committee. “They’re worried if that could happen and what that would mean for the overall concerns of their banks.”

The problem, Frerichs said, is that banks’ fear of prosecution has pushed the legal marijuana industry into an underground cash-based economy, which he said puts them at great risk.

“Some have found a financial institution – a bank or credit union – that will accept deposits, allow them to write checks, but some have not and they’re operating out of cash, putting all their money into safes and handling payroll with duffel bags full of cash, which we think is dangerous,” he said. “That’s the problem this legislation is looking to solve.”

Frerichs said he is also working with state treasurers from other states to lobby Congress to change federal banking laws.

Two people are dead after a two-vehicle crash early Monday morning in Elgin, police said.

A 2018 Nissan Altima was waiting to leave a business about 1:40 a.m. near Summit Street and Dundee Avenue. Police said a 2012 Honda sedan, traveling west on Summit Street, “left the roadway and forcefully truck the Nissan.”

A 26-year-old woman and a 30-year-old man who were in the Nissan were fatally injured, police said. A 21-year-old Glendale Heights man and person police described only as a “female passenger” were in the Honda. They were both taken to Advocate Sherman Hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening.

Police were still investigating the incident Monday night. They ask if anyone has any information to call the traffic unit at 847-289-2667.

Vigils were held Monday night for the two people killed in the accident.

]]>Market sees nearly 50% chance of a Fed rate cut by the end of January 2020http://chicagofinancialtimes.com/2019/03/20/market-sees-nearly-50-chance-of-a-fed-rate-cut-by-the-end-of-january-2020/
Thu, 21 Mar 2019 02:42:39 +0000http://chicagofinancialtimes.com/2019/03/20/market-sees-nearly-50-chance-of-a-fed-rate-cut-by-the-end-of-january-2020/2019-03-20 14:30:00

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Jerome Powell, chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, speaks during a news conference following a Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, March 20, 2019.

Markets are becoming more convinced that the Federal Reserve will be more accommodative on interest rates.

The fed funds futures market is assigning a 47.8 percent probability of at least one rate cut by Jan. 29, according to the CME’s FedWatch tool, which has been a reliable gauge of the Federal Open Market Committee’s actions.

Futures contracts are also implying a 39 percent probability of a rate decrease by Dec.11, up from only 23 percent before the Fed’s policy decision at 2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday.

The Fed left interest rates unchanged Wednesday and also indicated that no more hikes will be coming this year. The central bank’s policymaker took a sharply dovish turn from policy projections just three months earlier when it estimated two rate hikes would be appropriate in 2019.

The move came along with reduced expectations for GDP growth and inflation and a bump higher in the unemployment rate outlook. The central bank also set the end of its balance sheet reduction for September. The Fed said it will begin in May to taper the amount of proceeds it allows to roll off each month and will end the program in six months.

“They did what they needed to do to convince the market of their dovish pivot in messaging,” said Jeff Mills, co-chief investment strategist of PNC Financial Services Group.

“The very important thing along that pivot and the downgrade of the economy is that they also need to take some effort to convince the market that the economy is still on reasonably stable footing. I think there’s a balancing act going on with the dovish policy pivot and making sure they are not making investors think the economy is in worst shape than it is,” Mills said.

The CME computes the probability of a rate hike by taking the end-month futures contract, subtracting the level at the beginning of the month and dividing that by 25 basis points, which is the assumed level of each rate hike.

“The market got what they wanted and then some,” said Jack McIntyre, portfolio manager at Brandywine Global. “This is a version of them being patient and they are going to err on the side of caution.”

Europe’s antitrust regulators slapped Google with a big fine Wednesday for the third time in less than two years, ordering the tech giant to pay 1.49 billion euros ($1.7 billion) for freezing out rivals in the online advertising business.

The ruling brings to nearly $10 billion the fines imposed against Google by the European Union. And it comes at a time when big tech companies around the world are facing increasing regulatory pressure and fierce political attacks over privacy violations, online misinformation, hate speech and other abuses.

Still, the latest penalty isn’t likely to have much effect on Google’s business. It involves practices the company says it already ended, and the sum is just a fraction of the $31 billion in profit that its parent, Alphabet, made last year.

Alphabet stock rose 2 percent on Wall Street on Wednesday.

The EU ruling applies to a narrow portion of Google’s ad business: when Google sells ads next to Google search results on third-party websites.

Investigators found that Google inserted exclusivity clauses in its contracts that barred these websites from running similarly placed ads sold by Google’s rivals.

As a result, advertisers and website owners “had less choice and likely faced higher prices that would be passed on to consumers,” said the EU’s competition commissioner, Margrethe Vestager.

Anyone who suffered from Google’s behavior can seek compensation through national courts, she said.

EU regulators opened their investigation in 2016 — seven years after Microsoft filed a complaint — though by that time, Google had already made some changes to give customers more freedom to show competing ads. For that reason, regulators did not require a specific remedy to restore competition.

But Vestager said it appeared rivals haven’t been able to catch up, and some are “quite small.” By contrast, the EU said, Google has more than 70 percent of the European market for selling ads that run alongside search results on third-party websites.

Google did not say whether it would appeal.

“We’ve already made a wide range of changes to our products to address the commission’s concerns,” Google’s senior vice president of global affairs, Kent Walker, said in a statement. “Over the next few months, we’ll be making further updates to give more visibility to rivals in Europe.”

E-marketing analyst Bill Fisher noted a “growing wave of sentiment” toward curbing the influence of Big Tech and said that even if the EU’s rulings apply only to Google’s European operations, Google should “begin to open up, become more transparent and possibly look to alter some of its business practices” worldwide.

Earlier this month, a British expert panel recommended the government curb the dominance of giants like Facebook, Amazon and Google. In the U.S., Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has proposed breaking up the biggest American tech companies, accusing them of wielding too much power.

This week, as part of a settlement with the American Civil Liberties Union and other activists, Facebook agreed to overhaul its ad-targeting systems to prevent discrimination in housing, credit and employment ads.

The EU has led the way in promoting tougher regulation of big tech companies. Besides cracking down on antitrust breaches by Microsoft and Intel, it has enforced stricter data privacy rules that affect Facebook and other social media companies.

U.S. regulators haven’t been as tough, though the Federal Trade Commission recently created a task force focused on anti-competitive behavior in the industry.

Last year, Vestager fined Google a record 4.34 billion euros ($5 billion at the time) for forcing cellphone makers using the company’s Android operating system to install Google search and browser apps.

In 2017, she penalized Google 2.42 billion euros ($2.7 billion) for manipulating online shopping search results and directing visitors to its comparison-shopping service, Google Shopping, at the expense of its rivals.

Google, which is appealing those two earlier fines, has said it has since made adjustments to its shopping results and will start asking European users of Android phones if they want to use other search or browser apps.

The family of a man who went missing in Zion six days ago is pleading for anyone who might know where he is to come forward.

Cory Rhineheart’s family believes he may be in danger and possibly being held against his will. They came to the Zion Police Department Wednesday morning to organize another search and pray that he’s found soon.

Andrea Holmes is Rhineheart’s mother.

“Please, if you have my son, please let him go, please let him come home,” she said. “He’s such a sweet boy.”

Rhineheart’s father, Melvin Holmes, says the family just wants to “bring him home.”

Ashley Rhineheart, Cory’s sister, pleaded for the return of her brother.

“Please, please bring him back home, my brother is sweet and kindhearted and he does not deserve this wherever he is,” she said.

The last time the 28-year-old was seen was Friday about 9 a.m., police said. He was wearing black hospital scrubs, black Converse tennis shoes and a black pea coat. When he didn’t show up for work over the weekend, the family says something wasn’t right.

A possible clue in the case is a trail of blood found at an apartment. It’s now being tested by police. Melvin Holmes says the occupants are no where to be found.

“Somebody out there knows where he is at,” Melvin Holmes said.

Andrea Holmes says she will walk every street in town until she finds her son or someone who knows what happened to him.

“Please bring my son home, please,” she said.

The family has organized another search for Thursday evening.

Anyone with information about Rhineheart’s location is asked to call Zion police at (847) 872-8000.

No winners emerged Saturday night after numbers for the Powerball jackpot were drawn, pushing the jackpot for Wednesday’s drawing over the half-billion mark.

The $550 million prize is the eighth largest Powerball jackpot in the game’s history.

The winner could choose to receive the $550 million prize in annuity payments over 29 years or take the lump sum of $335 million before taxes.

The Powerball jackpot was last hit in New York in the December 26 drawing. Since then, there have been 23 drawings in a row without a jackpot winner.

Powerball is played in 44 states plus Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, all of which collectively oversee the game. Drawings are held twice a week. Five white balls are drawn from a drum containing 69 balls and one red ball is selected from a drum with 26 balls. Players can choose their numbers or let a computer make a random choice.

The odds of winning are one in 292.2 million.

The winning numbers Saturday night were: 42, 39, 18, 2 and 37. The Powerball number was 12 and the multiplier was 3.

In 1987 Helen Miller headed a group of hundreds of home health care workers as they marched into the state capital toting mops and brooms to campaign for a hike in their $1-an-hour wage.

Mrs. Miller used to say she grew up shy, but when it came time to testify before lawmakers that day, she found her voice.

“When I got in front of all those important people with their nice suits and dresses, looking down on us, I told them: ‘Don’t listen to me with your head, listen to me with your heart,’” she recalled.

Her lobbying back then helped increase the minimum hourly wage for some home health care workers to $3.50, up from $1, according to Keith Kelleher, former president of SEIU Healthcare Illinois. (SEIU Healthcare has an ownership stake in Sun-Times Media.)

Mrs. Miller, 82, died March 5 of complications from stomach cancer in her hometown of Louisville, Mississippi, where she moved when she retired.

She had been born there, on her family’s farm in 1936. That’s where she grew up, too, picking cotton and doing other heavy physical labor. Once she graduated high school, young Helen headed north to Chicago to seek work.

“Growing up as children on the farm, we had to share a bed in our small house” said her sister, Johnnie Wells, who survives. “But once we were older and I visited her in Chicago, we chose to share a bed so we could sit and talk the night away.”

After getting married to Colin Miller and settling on the South Side, she worked in an industrial laundry. In the late 1970s, she became an in-home care provider for the city of Chicago and state of Illinois, doing basic tasks for senior citizens and people with disabilities, including feeding, bathing and dressing them.

Helen Miller at a 2005 union rally in Springfield. Raised in the Jim Crow South, Miller came to Chicago in the 1950s looking for a job. She worked in industrial laundry and later as a home health care worker. | Provided

In 1984, Mrs. Miller joined SEIU Local 880. Often, she’d work with housebound patients all day, then ride the bus or train to union meetings in the evening to volunteer and organize with other workers.

From 1999 to 2007, she served as president of Local 880, Kelleher said. In 2003, she led a bargaining committee that helped win an increase in their hourly wage, reaching $9.35 per hour in 2007.

“Before organizing with the union, I was like a little mouse in the corner saying ‘peep, peep’ but now I’m a roaring lion,” Mrs. Miller once said.

“She didn’t like seeing people being taken advantage of,” said her nephew Tony Berry. “She dedicated every day to fighting for a living wage.”

Helen Miller stands with a young Barack Obama in 1996 at the state capitol in Springfield, shortly after he was elected state senator. Mrs. Miller canvassed for Obama for several of his state elections. | Provided

Mrs. Miller worked on Barack Obama’s state senate and congressional campaigns, as well as his 2004 run for U.S. Senate. When she retired in 2007, then-Senator Obama sent Mrs. Miller a letter that said, “Your dedication has changed the lives of thousands of citizens, helped them receive higher pay, health care and benefits, and given them a share of the American dream.”

She was preceded in death by her husband. She is survived by two brothers, Hayward Ashford and Jerome Hoskin; four sisters, Brenda Thomas, Paulette Cooks, and Cookie Hoskin and Johnnie Wells; and several nieces and nephews.

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on the last day of the trading year on December 31, 2018 in New York City.

Check out the companies making headlines midday Tuesday:

Deutsche Bank — Deutsche Bank shares dipped 2.3 percent a day after rallying on news about a possible merger with Commerzbank. The potential merger, however, sparked concerns from labor unions about potential job losses and analysts to question whether the merger would be beneficial.

Yum Brands — Shares of Yum Brands slipped 4 percent after an analyst at J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to neutral from overweight, citing little upside to the companies’ estimates after a recent run-up.

Del Taco Restaurants — Shares of the California fast food chain dropped more than 6.5 percent after the company reported fourth-quarter earnings that disappointed investors. The company posted earnings per share of 18 cents, just missing a Refinitiv estimate of 19 cents.

Revlon — The cosmetics company said there was “material weakness” in its financial reporting but doesn’t expect any changes to previously reported results. Revlon said the weakness relates to the implementation of a back-end technology system. Revlon shares dropped 6.9 percent.

DSW — DSW’s shares fell more than 12 percent after the footwear retailer reported quarterly results that fell short of expectations. DSW reported a fourth-quarter loss of 7 cents per share and profit margins fell by 3 percent. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expected a profit of 4 cents per shares.

Michaels Companies — Shares of the Texas-based retailer jumped more than 8 percent after the company posted better-than-expected earnings for the previous quarter. Michaels also issued better-than-expected comparable sales guidance for fiscal 2020.

Tilray — Canadian cannabis maker Tilray fell more than 3.4 percent as investors digested the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report. Tilray reported a quarterly loss of 33 cents per share, far wider than the 4 cent loss in the year-earlier period. The company’s revenue did top expectations, however. The stock initially rose more than 4 percent before turning lower.

Advanced Micro Devices — Shares of AMD jumped more than 11 percent after Google confirmed the chipmaker will power the search engine’s graphics rendering for its cloud-based gaming platform.

The shooting happened in the 100 block of West Argyle Street about 8 p.m. Fire officials said the two victims were taken to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in critical condition. Police said they did not have a description of the shooter.

A witness told NBC 5 he heard six or seven gunshots. He said he looked out his window and saw four people running eastbound.